Artist Copy Process

So far, this project has been very enjoyable. It has been super interesting to study the specific artist mark and learn how to apply it, and the drawing is going better than I expected. One part that I think has been fairly easy is creating the form of the figure; working with charcoal makes it really easy to shade and add depth to the drawing. Adding the very dark shadows has been one of my favorite parts, because I feel like they are great at making the drawing look more put together and realistic. Something that has been a bit challenging is trying to make the marks look like a replica of the original artist's marks. My drawing has some very subtle changes in tone, and it has been difficult to capture that and make it look as smooth as Rubens did. Another challenging aspect has been adding highlights with the white chalk; I expected this to be easy, but in reality, its really difficult to put the highlights in the correct spot. When they are even a little off, the whole drawing looks completely different. I feel like I've already learned a lot from doing this project, but something that stands out to me is the difference that materials can make; specifically, the kind of paper. The drawing changes so much based on the paper that is used, and this wasn't something that I was really aware of until I experienced it firsthand. My drawing on the toned, toothed paper looks so much more accurate and realistic compared to the drawings I did of the same figure in my sketchbook with white, smooth paper. Over all, this project is very interesting and I'm excited to continue working on it.

Written 10/4/23

Current artist copy progress: